Nintendo 3DS Comes Packaged with Mario, Zelda, & Metroid AR Cards

There’s no debating that the Nintendo 3DS has a lackluster number of Nintendo-made launch titles, and even though quite a few big Nintendo franchises are indeed coming to the device at a later point in time, gamers are still surely a little bummed. Key franchises like Legend of Zelda, Mario, and Metroid seem to all be MIA for the 3DS’s launch, and people are understandably a little confused as to why Nintendo would launch a new system without at least one of their own killer apps.

However, it seems that some people may have been a bit hasty in assuming that we won’t be playing any key Nintendo franchises at launch, because the 3DS will come with built-in software that features all of the previously mentioned characters, and more.

As many already know, the Nintendo 3DS has an Augmented Reality feature that will allow individuals to bring their games into our world. Augmented Reality, or AR, works by scanning one of the six cards that comes with the 3DS. After the 3DS’s cameras have detected the card, players will be able to interact with characters that pop-up on screen. Nintendo has only demoed the capabilities of the AR Card that features a picture of the infamous Question Mark Block of Mario fame, and we were able to play around with that program way back at E3 during our hands-on with the 3DS.

However, nobody knew what the other five cards that came packaged with the 3DS would contain — until today that is. The new cards were identified via a tweet from GAME’s official Twitter account, and they revealed that Mario, Samus, Link, Kirby, and Pikmin all would have their very own AR Cards bundled with the system. Not much is known about what games these cards will offer, but they should at least feature the characters pictured on each respective card.

The cards featuring the Nintendo All-Stars can be seen below.

While it’s awesome that all of these characters will likely be playable in several different AR fueled mini-games at launch, it’s also a big piece of evidence that suggests that the long fabled Pikmin 3DS won’t be coming anytime in the near future. It seems rather obvious that the retail listing and Miyamoto’s remarks about Pikmin on the 3DS were both referring to the included Pikmin AR Card. Those who were hoping revisit Capt. Olimar on the 3DS should still keep their hopes up though because Pikmin, and even Smash Bros., have been confirmed to be possible or even likely to appear on the handheld.

What do you think of the newly revealed Augmented Reality Cards that come with the Nintendo 3DS?